Saving Face
by Scripturience
Summary: Ichigo would like to think that he was a fairly practical person. Grimmjow couldn't care less. AU, OOCness, Yaoi, Grimmichi. You have been warned.
1. Prologue

**AN**:Coverart by Miumi-U on deviantart. I don't own Bleach.

Prologue

Ichigo Kurosaki was living what he felt was the definition of mediocrity. He went to a normal public school, socialized with his normal friends, and went home to his slightly less normal family. All of this made him inconspicuous, a face in the crowd. Ichigo kept his head low, maintaining a medium circle of acquaintances while keeping all others at a safe distance with a firm cold shoulder. This was his status quo. He went to the same classes, talked to the same people, and kept the same icy demeanor. And things were exactly as he wanted it.

By condemning himself to this routine, he could make it through the rest of his school years unscathed. Being quiet kept things stable. Being quiet kept things safe.

Ichigo flopped down onto his mattress, just returning home from another mundane school day. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, noticing a small envelope illuminating its screen. He opened a text message from Rukia, the center of his circle of friends and the one he'd known the longest.

_'Stop being such a downer,'_ Ichigo could only scoff at her text.

_'I'm just being realistic, maybe being alone forever isn't such a bad thing :P,'_ He included the smile mostly in hopes of staving off any furthering of the topic, but when he heard his phone notify a reply Ichigo realized he should have known better.

_'Ichigo, no one is ever alone. There IS a guy out there for u, but sitting on ur ass isn't gonna get him here sooner!'_ His brows furrowed as he read her response. The two would argue about this from time to time but lately Rukia was getting more persistent.

Yes Ichigo was gay. This was something he preferred to keep under wraps. Coming out meant being different. Being different in the social war zone of high school would make him a target. This is something he wanted to not happen.

Of course Rukia would always tell him that kind of talk was just dramatic, and that it wouldn't be as bad as he thought, but Ichigo didn't like taking chances. What he had now was structure. Structure was good; it meant that he could get good grades and a nice, stable career. After that he could think about relationships, he'd have his whole life ahead of him.

'Stop thinking like that,' she would always tell him 'You're hot Ichigo, you undersell yourself. ' Ichigo always shrugged off her encouragement. He knew that it was the obligatory friend thing to do. In his eyes, Ichigo was nothing special. Not exceptionally good looking or outstanding, just a regular person, nothing more. Besides, even if she was right, the odds of him finding 'the right guy' were already so slim. He was a minority after all (another thing Rukia would always scold him for saying.) And dating meant coming out, which Ichigo was adamant about not doing. At least… not yet.

_'I just want things to stay the way they are for now. I can worry about that stuff later…' _He hammered out the annoyed reply and hit send, setting his phone aside with the intent to drop the subject. Ichigo had a normal life, and it was going to stay that way.

At least, that was what he naively thought before his life was torn asunder with the force of a hurricane. A wild, crazy, blue haired hurricane.

**AN:** Ah yes, the high school AU fic. If you made it this far, I would like the thank you for giving this a read. I realize that Ichigo is quite OOC here, but I am planning to go somewhere with that so I would appreciate if you could all bear with me. Anyway I'm not quite sure what to expect from this fic in the long run quite yet, but I do have most of the general idea mapped out. I'll try to update as regularly as I can for all of those interested, and I would greatly appreciate any criticisms that can be offered. That being said, I hope everyone sincerely enjoys this story, and I'll do my best in seeing it through to its end!


	2. Blue Haired Menace

**AN:** I'd just like to start out by apologizing. Guys I'm sooo sorry that it took me this long! I'm not going to bore you all with excuses. Just know that I'm extremely thankful to everyone who reviews, favorited, or even just read this. Anyway without further ado, I present to you chapter 1!

Ichigo strode through the halls of the school, keeping his head low in an effort to conceal his extremely conspicuous hair. He'd been ignoring Rukia since she'd texted him yesterday and he knew she would be hell bent on driving her point home. So far he was fairly successful in getting around her. Ichigo had his phone silenced, he took a completely different walking route to school, and he'd been strategically returning to his locker at varying earlier and later times between classes. Being so thorough in his avoidance may have seemed strange, but Ichigo _really_ did not want to address this topic. However this period they shared the same class. Realizing this, he made an effort to quickly take his seat in the desk next to Rukia and bury his face into a textbook before his friend could even have the chance to pester him. Any complaints she could have made were drowned out by the ringing of the bell, and the beginning of class

Dating was something outside of his comfort zone, and to be honest the price of outtting himself at such an early time in his life for only a chance at meeting a good guy just didn't seem worth it. Ichigo had all the time in the world to think about dating. Of course that didn't mean he couldn't take in the eye candy.

Yes Ichigo still gawked at the school's selection of attractive males. Well subtlety of course. How could he not? He was a young, healthy male, and as such he had a sex drive. Although sometimes his wandering eye would be at conflict with his head. All too often Ichigo would catch himself staring at guys who were quite simply unobtainable. Hell in his mind every guy might as well have been. Still he knew what he liked, despite his pessimism regarding relationships. Abarai wasn't too bad, and Shuuhei was pretty hot. At the very top of his list was a very guilty pleasure. Jaegerjaquez.

Incredible body, bad boy attitude, outrageous blue hair, and oozing with confidence. He really was probably one of the best looking people in the school. He was a track star whose reputation proceeded him. Grimmjow took flak from no one, and was known for causing trouble. Everyone in the school knew his name. People wanted to know him. Some wanted to _be_ him.

And Ichigo could not _stand_ him. What? Just because Grimmjow's hot doesn't mean he has to like him. Ichigo hated how that blue haired menace acted like he owned the place. Always strutting around like everyone should kiss his feet. Didn't he realize that this was just high school? Outside of their tiny social sphere, in the real world none of those kids mattered. As if someone like Jaegerjaquez was thinking about that now. He probably only cared about being the "king" of this school for the short time he'd be there.

So what if he was drop dead sexy? A guy still has to have standards.

Ichigo was brought out of his mental tangent by a crumpled up paper ball making contact with the side of his head. He peeled his face out of the textbook he wasn't actually reading and begrudgingly picked it up. He unfolded it to reveal a note, scribed in Rukia's flowery handwriting. _'Answer your texts you moron' _And of course the message included a picture of a rabbit. Ichigo mentally face palmed at his friend's quirkiness.

Taking a quick peek at the front of the room to make sure the teacher wasn't watching, Ichigo slipped his cell phone out of his pocket. After skipping through a series of generic angry 'where the fuck are you?' texts, he read _'you can't ignore me forever ya know. I'm just looking out for u.'_

Feeling a pang of guilt, he replied _'Look I'm sorry ok, I just dont feel like talking about it.'_

Soon enough Rukia replied with _'Meet me after school. We can talk about this and drown ur problems in greasy fast food. Sound good?'_

Sighing, Ichigo typed out a simple _'k'_ and promptly tucked his phone back into his pocket. Hopefully he could shut Rukia up about this for at least a little while.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Shortly after their digital exchange, the class had ended. He didn't feel like directly dealing with Rukia's interrogation just yet, so made an effort to get out the door quickly. As he walked amongst the surge of students, Ichigo let his mind wander. Was Rukia right? Was there something really wrong with his attitude? Not wanting to take risks wasn't _too_ bad, was it?

And once again Ichigo was brought out of his inner monologue. He was abruptly brought back into reality when he collided with something _very_ solid. Did he walk into a wall or a door? He really needed to start paying more attention...

Whatever it was he bumped into knocked him flat on his ass, his papers and books scattering amongst the floor. "Wh-what the-" His complaints were interrupted by the deepest baritone laugh he'd ever heard.

Ichigo looked up from his place on the floor to see none other than his so-called "guilty pleasure" laughing hysterically at his plight. He felt like he was frozen in place, just sitting there on the floor with his things strewn about as everyone passed him. It was as if Ichigo felt obligated to listen to that asshole laugh at him. It was either Grimmjow's demanding presence, or the fact that his voice was like liquid sex, that kept Ichigo planted there in the middle of the hallway. Maybe a bit of both.

"Nice landin' there kid," Grimmjow finally spoke after ending his seemingly eternal fit of laughter. He offered his hand to help Ichigo up, who in response gave him a cold stare and defiantly refused. Grimmjow merely smirked at his attitude.

After pulling himself to his feet, Ichigo collected his disheveled books and continued off towards his locker.

"Name's Grimmjow. Yours?" Ichigo looked to his left, surprise to see that Jaegerjaquez was walking next to him. In reply to his question Ichigo could only offer an incredulous stare. Why was Grimmjow so intent on bothering him all of a sudden?

"What are you doing?" He questioned, annoyance evident in his tone. At this Grimmjow only laughed. Ichigo wondered if he was always so prone to doing that.

"You're pretty bitter ain't ya, kid?" Grimmjow said slapping a hand on Ichigo's shoulder.

Ichigo was getting more irritated by the second. Calling him nicknames and grabbing his shoulder. This guy was acting as if they'd known each other for years or something. "Ichigo." he ground out, shoving off Grimmjow's hand. And of course that made him smirk. Again.

"Well then nice to meet ya, Ichigo," Ichigo realized it was probably both cliché and sad, but he couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine at hearing Grimmjow say his name.

Trying to maintain his composure, Ichigo replied with "Well I'd say the same to you but I fail to see how," _'Oh nice comeback Ichigo'_ He mentally deadpanned. But Grimmjow laughed anyway. Ichigo couldn't help but wonder if he was faking that or if he was just easily amused.

Deciding that he'd had enough of their wonderfully awkward stroll, Ichigo walked ahead. Although he could have sworn he heard Grimmjow say something along the lines of 'Nice ass by the way,' but he decided that he was either hearing things or that Grimmjow was continuing to torment him.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

When Ichigo finally made it to his locker, he saw Rukia there waiting for him.

He was both shocked and embarrassed when she muttered "Real smooth"

"Y-you saw that?!" he replied, face reddening.

"Who didn't?" She continued to joke at his expense. She playfully jabbed at his arm. "So you ready to go?"

"Uh yeah I think so," He answered, rummaging through his locker. "Aw crap!"

"Hm? What is it?" Rukia asked, concerned at Ichigo's sudden exclamation.

"I must've dropped it back in the hallway!"

"What? Ichigo what the hell are you freaking out about?"

"My phone damn it!" He bit back irritably. Anyone who found that could see all of his texts. Meaning they would know what he talked about with Rukia on a regular basis.

"Ichigo just calm down. I can call it for you." She suggested in an attempt to ease Ichigo's growing anxiety.

"No don't! What if someone else finds it?"

"It'll be fine Ichigo, you're just overreacting. Ok just look around the school for it. Ask a teacher or something. I'm sure someone's seen it. Somewhere. "

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

After scanning the hallway where he fell and questioning all nearby teachers, Ichigo came up empty-handed. He almost feared that he was out of luck when he heard someone shout for him near the locker room.

"Yo Kurosaki!" Oh God no. Not _him_.

But of course, when Ichigo turned around he saw Grimmjow making his way over to him.

Not having the patience to deal with him, Ichigo immediately snapped. "What do you want?"

"Well aren't we touchy." Grimmjow replied faking offense. "What's wrong? Lose something?"

"For your information yes, and- Wait how did you know?"

To both his amazement and dismay, there it was. His cell phone was right there, in the place he'd probably want to see it least. Grimmjow was holding it, as if to mock him.

Ichigo immediately made a grab for it, letting out a frustrated groan when Grimmjow held it above his head. "What are you, 4?" He snapped, irritated at Grimmjow's teasing.

"So mean, and after I went through the trouble of finding this!"

"Cut it out Grimmjow, just give it back!" Ichigo got on his toes, trying desperately to grab his phone back. When actually connected with Grimmjow's hand, they both ended up losing their balance and crashed to the floor.

After recovering from the initial impact, Ichigo opened his eyes. What he saw was Grimmjow's face in very close proximity to his own, adorning his usual shit eating grin.

To his horror, his own body was sprawled out over Grimmow's, with both of them on the hallway floor. After blushing madly, he quickly jumped up to his feet, with Grimmjow following suit.

"Aw man the look on your face was priceless" He said cackling madly. Ichigo glared at him, still blushing the shade of a tomato.

Without saying a word he took advantage of Grimmjow's laughter to swipe away his phone, and stormed off.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Ichigo exited the building, his thoughts still racing from his encounter with Grimmjow. His heart was thumping in his chest, his pace quickening. What was Grimmjow's deal? Why was he bugging him all of a sudden? And most importantly, did he look through Ichigo's phone?

Based on what had happened, hopefully the answer was no. After all, if Grimmjow had gone through his texts, he would have said something. He had been so determined to pester him before, surely he would have taken such a golden opportunity now. Ichigo could literally only hope he was right.

Ichigo took out his phone as he continued to move at his frantic anxiety driven pace, scanning through his texts. He cringed at the apparent gayness of the one's he regularly exchanged with Rukia. Ichigo suddenly paused when he noticed something new in his phone. Was that Grimmjow's number in his cont-

Ichigo was torn from his thoughts at the sound of brakes screeching to a halt. He was frozen quite literally like a deer in headlights, as a car made contact with the side of his body.

He really needed to start paying attention.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

**AN:** Hitting him with a car and it's only chapter 1? Yes, yes I know, I suck. Anyways I hoped you all enjoyed this chapter. I'm sorry it's not very long. To be honest it's not nearly as long as I would have liked it to be. Hopefully the next chapter will be a bit longer, but who knows? I'll also try not to take as much time to update, but I really can't make any promises there considering how things have been for me lately. Please give me any thoughts and/or criticisms you have in a review. And once again, thanks for reading!


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